What is a wallet in Expense Trail?
Where money lives: cash, bank, card, and savings balances.
A wallet is where money lives in Expense Trail—Cash in your pocket, a checking account, a credit card you track, or a savings jar. Every expense and income entry is tied to a wallet through a payment method. Wallets hold balances; they are not the same as spending categories.
What belongs in a wallet?
| Label you might create | What it represents |
|---|---|
| Cash | Physical money you carry |
| Bank account | Checking or everyday banking |
| Credit card | Card balance you pay off monthly |
| Savings account | Money set aside |
Wallet vs payment method on one entry
When you log lunch paid with your debit card, the wallet might be "Chase Checking" and the payment method label might be "Debit card." The wallet balance changes; the category (Food) describes what you bought.
See Payment methods for labels on individual entries.
IOU wallets for splits
Adding a buddy creates a wallet named Name (IOU) that tracks who owes whom. These behave like normal wallets in reports but are managed through Buddies & splits.
Common mistakes
- Using a category as a wallet — "Groceries" is not an account; use Food category + Bank wallet.
- Logging transfers as expenses — Moving money between Checking and Savings is a transfer, not spending.
- Confusing payment method with wallet — Payment method is how you paid on that line; wallet is which account balance moves.
Set up wallets in the app
- Settings → Money → Wallets → Add wallet
- Name it clearly (e.g. "Main checking")
- Pick currency if you use more than one
- Set a default wallet for quick-add
Full steps: Wallets product guide.